Progress Made on Women’s Development Funds for Promoting the Roles of Thai Women

(21/01/2013)

The Government has made much progress for the women’s development funds, which were set up in all provinces to promote the varied roles that Thai women play in modern society. In the weekly program “Yingluck Government Meets the People” on 19 January 2013, Minister to the Prime Minister’s Office Sansanee Nakpong said that the recent meeting of the National Development Fund for Women had agreed that the amount to be allocated by the Government to each province for its women’s development fund would depend on the size of its population. For instance, small provinces, with a population of less than 600,000, will be provided with 70 million baht each. Medium-size provinces, with more than 600,000 people but not over one million people, will receive 100 million baht each. Large provinces, with a population of over one million, will receive 130 million baht each. Minister Sansanee stated that a total of 7.7 billion baht in the national budget had been allocated for the women’s development funds, with each province receiving 100 million baht on average. There are currently 77 provinces in Thailand. Out of these provinces, 35 are classified as small provinces, 22 as medium-size provinces, and 20 as large provinces. Apart from the Committee on the National Development Fund for Women, chaired by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, 77 committees at the provincial level and 7,218 committees at the subdistrict level have been established to supervise the operations of the women’s development funds. A total of 11 million women have so far been accepted as members of the funds. Minister Sansanee revealed that each fund is divided into two types – a grant and a revolving funding source. The grant will be used for projects to enhance the potential of women, improve their quality of life, and ease their problems. The revolving funding source will offer low-interest loans for women in order to generate employment and income. Regarding the grant, nine provinces have already approved 174 projects, worth 7.8 million baht, which will benefit 16,585 members. Among the projects are those aimed at encouraging women to be aware of environmental problems and equipping them with knowledge about the development of older women’s quality of life. As for the revolving funding source, 20 provinces have already approved 1, 427 projects, worth more than 104 million baht, which will benefit 18,057 members. These projects are related to agriculture, industry, commerce, services, and home economics, such as the operations of community shops, the production of quality rice, the planting of lemon trees, and the making of paper bags. Minister Sansanee said that, since the Government wanted women to receive support in all areas, it was encouraging interested private organizations to join the women’s fund networks to help enhance the potential of Thai women and provide them with greater opportunities.